on made."

Softly Wabigoon read the words aloud. When he finished his eyes met
Rod's, Mukoki was still crouching at the foot of the stub, staring at
the two boys in silence, as if stupefied by what he had just heard.

"This doesn't leave a doubt," said Wabi at last. "We've struck the
right place!"

"The gold is somewhere--very near--"

Rod could not master the tremble in his voice. As though hoping to see
the yellow treasure heaped in a pile before his eyes he turned to the
waterfall, to the gloomy walls of the chasm, and finally extended an
arm to where the spring torrent, leaping over the edge of the chasm
above, beat itself into frothing rage among the rocks between the two
mountains.

"It's there!"

"In the stream?"

"Yes. Where else near this cabin would they have found pure nuggets
of gold? Surely not in rock! And gold-dust is always in the sands of
streams. It's there--without a doubt!"

Both Indians went with him to the edge of the water.

"The creek widens here until it is very shallow," said Wabi. "I don't
believe that it is more than four feet deep out there in the middle.
What do you say--" He paused as he saw Mukoki slip back to the dead
stub again, then went on, "What do you say to making a trip to the
canoe after grub for our dinner, and the pans?"

The first flash of enthusiasm that had filled Wabigoon on reading the
paper discovered by Rod was quickly passing away, and the white youth
could not but notice the change which came over both Mukoki and his
young friend when they stood once more beside the smooth white stub
that reached up to the floor of the chasm above. He controlled his
own enthusiasm enough to inspect more closely the dead tree which had
affected them so strangely. The discovery he made fairly startled him.
The surface of the stub was not only smooth and free of limbs, but was
polished until it shone with the reflecting luster of a waxed pillar!
For a moment he forgot the paper which he held in his hand, forgot
the old cabin, and the nearness of gold. In blank wonder he stared at
Mukoki, and the old Indian shrugged his shoulders.

"Ver' nice an' smooth!"

"Ver' dam' smooth!" emphasized Wabi, without a suggestion of humor in
his voice.

"What does it mean?" asked Rod.

"It means," continued Wabigoon, "that this old stub has for a good
many years been used! by something as a sort of stairway in and out of
this chasm! Now if it were a bear, there would be claw marks. If it